1. Minimum wages and conditions of employment for domestic workers
Results of investigation by
Department of Labour

2. Agenda Background Nature of domestic work Conditions of employment
Minimum wages
Conclusion

3. Background History of legal protection Terms of reference
Process to date
Process from here
Report contents

4. History of legal protection
1994: Very limited legal protection
1996: Labour Relations Act extended to domestic workers
1998: Basic Conditions of Employment Act extended
1999: Minister announces intention to set minimum wages and conditions appropriate to the circumstances facing domestic workers
2000: Skills Development Act includes domestics
2001: UI Bill to include domestics.

5. Terms of reference of investigation
To investigate:
Minimum rates of remuneration
Conditions of employment
And who should be covered by the term “domestic worker”.

6. Process: to date Consultation and comments: Research:
117 public comments
64 public hearings
Research:
2 surveys reaching 300 employers and 4000 domestic workers
Review of international experience

7. Process: from here Report published for further public comment
Comments to be considered by the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC)
ECC to consider report and public comments and advise Minister
Minister to publish Sectoral Determination.

8. Report contents Report covers the following: Background
Historical perspective and description of sector
Defining domestic work
Present conditions
Present wages
Evaluation of the potential impact of certain wages on poverty and job creation
Recommendations.

9. Nature of domestic work
Historical perspective
What is a domestic worker
Types of domestic work
Facts and figures
Features of domestic work

10. Historical perspective
In Western World, domestic work was a ‘respectable occupation’ until industrial revolution.
In 19th and 20th Century seen as occupation with low status, left to poorer or specific ethnic groups and undervalued.
Enabled men to work outside the home unhindered.

11. And in South Africa…
White women were given preferential treatment in labour market
Black women were unskilled and due to apartheid were able to be paid very low wages.
Domestic work in SA is particularly lowly paid and undervalued.
Today their position has not improved.

12. What is a domestic worker
International Labour Organisation definition has following components:
Working in a private household
Employed by one or several employers
Employer receives no pecuniary gain from this work
Remunerated in different forms (cash and kind).

13. Types of domestic work Housekeeping Cooking
Child care (and sometimes care of the aged)
Watch person
Gardener
Chauffeur
Cleaner.

14. Facts and figures Are approximately 800 000 domestic workers
18% of workers employed are domestic workers
Vast majority are black women
Majority have primary education
Average age is 41
Majority come from rural areas.

15. Features of domestic work
Highly individualised employment relationship
High levels of control
Regimented life style
Lack of privacy
High levels of job insecurity
Unequal power relations
Intensity of work
Poor working conditions.

16. Conditions of employment
General comments
Working hours
Leave
Termination of employment
Administrative obligations
Accommodation
Social security

17. General comments
Lack of awareness by employers and domestic workers on rights and obligations
Legislation seldom consulted
Informal arrangements made which are not recorded
More complaints about isolation, lack of job security than about conditions of employment

18. Working hours National average: 46.2 hours per week
KwaZuluNatal: 55.9 hours per week
Often work in evenings and nights including being asked to look after child or old throughout the night
“Live in’s” can be called upon at all hours
Difficult to control and monitor numbers of hours worked
Not excessive overtime worked but overtime not remunerated.

19. Working hours: recommendations
45 ordinary hours per week to remain
Can work up to 15 hours overtime per week
Overtime to be remunerated at one sixth of salary for every 5 hours worked.
Allowance of R16 per shift to be paid for ‘sleeping in’ at night and employee must agree in writing. This arrangement can be for no more than 5 times per month or 50 times per year.

20. Leave
Most get between 14 and 21 days leave. The law stipulates 21 days.
Complaints about amount of pay received when on leave
Sick leave arranged informally
Requests for more family responsibility leave
Worker asked to arrange a replacement when going on maternity leave.

21. Leave: recommendations
Family responsibility leave to be increased from three days in BCEA to five days for domestic workers.

22. Termination of employment
Present law requires four weeks notice
Employers called for:
Shorter notice periods
Probation periods
Ignorance and uncertainty in respect of severance pay when ‘retrenchments’ occur.

23. Termination of employment: recommendations
Proposed amendments to BCEA would also cover domestic workers, namely:
Reduced notice periods to:
One week if been employed for six months or less
Two weeks if employed for less than one year
Four weeks if employed for more than six months
A form of probation.
Code of Good Practice to be developed to provide guidelines in respect of what to do on termination including in respect of severance pay.

24. Administrative obligations
BCEA excludes domestic workers from getting pay slips.
Workers complained about difficulties e.g. to open a bank account
Employers said they would not have a problem to do so
Deductions provisions of BCEA difficult to apply.
Very few employers sign contracts of employment or issue written particulars.

25. Administrative obligations: recommendations
Domestic workers must get a pay slip or wage envelope.
Employers must keep attendance registers unless an agreement has been concluded otherwise.
No employer shall penalise domestic workers for any damages that may occur during performance of duties. If believe there has been willful damage, can declare a dispute and use LRA remedies.

26. Accommodation
Not as many complaints about quality of accommodation as about:
Isolation (lonely, no friends on premises)
Lack of privacy (being called upon on all hours)
36% of domestic workers in survey said that they lived on employer’s property
1 – 2% said employers made deductions for accommodation, electricity, water, food etc.

27. Accommodation: recommendations
An employer may deduct not more than 25% of the wage in respect of accommodation which meets certain standards
A domestic worker can not work more than 10 hours in a week without remuneration in exchange for accommodation
No deductions allowed for food.

28. Standard of accommodation
Room must be weatherproof and generally kept in a good condition
At least one window and door, which can be locked
Room must be fitted with a toilet, bath or shower if domestic worker does not have 24 hour access to another bathroom.

29. Social security
Workers in hearings expressed support for inclusion in UI and also want a provident fund.
Employers concerned about the administration and collection of monies.
Report recommends that the issue of a provident fund be taken up by the same forum that is looking at the inclusion of UI for domestic workers.

30. Minimum wages Information gathering Present wages Expectations
Modeling exercise
Approach
Recommendations

31. Information gathering
Difficulties to get accurate information
Used information from OHS, surveys, hearings
Most useful data from October Household Survey 1995
Rates inflated by CPI to calculate 2000 levels
Use median wages rather than mean since this is most accurate reflection of wages of majority of workers.

32. Present wages (OHS) Per rural or urban: Per race: Per gender
Urban: R588 per month, Rural: R409 per month
Per race:
White: R1023 per month, African: R518 per month
Per gender
Female: R514, Male: R588.
Per educational level:
None: R398, Grade 9 – 11: R588

33. Present wages per province (OHS)
Gauteng: R750 per month
Western Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZuluNatal & Northern Province: R588
Eastern Cape and Northern Cape: R409
North West: R355
Free State: R273

34. Other information from surveys
Within Gauteng:
Johannesburg: R833 per month
Pretoria: R674 per month
Vaal: R438 per month.
Live-ins earn more than live outs but work on average 19 more hours per week.
Value of accommodation: R200 per month.

35. Wages of domestic workers compared to other workers
A domestic worker earns:
7% of what a manager earns
19% of what a clerk earns
43% of what a mine worker earns
93% of what a farm worker earns.
Domestics are the lowest paid workers in our society.

36. Expectations Employees in the hearings: Employers in the hearings:
Rural workers: R400
Urban workers: R800
Employers in the hearings:
Full time workers: between R160 and R900
Part time workers: between R20 and R60 per day

37. BCEA requirements Need to look at impact of minimum wages on:
Ability of employer to pay
Poverty alleviation
Employment retention and employment creation
Small business
Health, safety and welfare of employees.

38. Approach of Department
Protect the jobs of the most vulnerable
Job loss would impact on entire household
Employment is scarce for people with few skills, particularly in rural areas
Improve the livelihoods and contribute to the alleviation of poverty
Minimum wage and condition setting only one mechanism amongst others to improve conditions

39. Establishing impact on jobs and poverty alleviation
Investigation:
Looked at number of workers that COULD be affected by setting the minimum wages at different levels
Did a econometric modeling exercise to determine POSSIBLE impact of certain wages on employment.
Number of weaknesses with modeling
Used the results to GUIDE our decisions.

40. Establishing number of workers who could be affected
Number of rural workers earning less than R400 per month is:
or 45% of all rural domestic workers.
Numbers of urban workers earning under R500 per month is:
or 38%
Number of urban workers earning under R600 per month is or 53%.

41. Results of modeling exercise
Model assumed that for every 1% increase in wages, there would be a 0.15% impact in the short run and 0,7% in the long run on jobs.
A R400 minimum wage for rural workers could result in the following job losses:
6% or workers in the short run
26% or workers in the long run
A R600 minimum wage for urban workers could result in the following job losses:
5% or workers in the short run
23% or employees in the long run

42. Comments on modeling exercise
Drawbacks include:
Static exercise
No indirect effects of wage increases considered
Elasticities developed from the formal sector.
Determining affordability is difficult since households can’t ‘close down’.
Employers may not respond by dismissing workers but by changing employment patterns.

43. Conclusions
High minimum wages poses a serious risk of significant job losses, especially in rural areas
Need to consider this in the context of:
Job scarcity, particularly in rural areas
Characteristics of domestic workers: low skills
Household dimension: domestic workers support others in households.
Modest and realistic minimum wages would minimise job losses and improve livelihoods.

44. Recommendations
Modest but realistic minimum wages should be proposed for different geographical areas:
R600 for urban areas
R500 for rural/urban
R400 for rural
Wages should also be proposed on an hourly basis so that employers can determine the number of hours that they can afford.

45. Geographical areas Based on metropolitan and local council boundaries
Divided into:
Urban e.g. Durban, Johannesburg, Kimberley
Urban/rural e.g.Vryheid, Ventersdorp, Phalaborwa
Rural areas
Comments on the appropriate demarcation are welcomed.

46. More recommendations
Wages should increase by 7% after the first year and a further 7% after the second year
Wages can be reduced by 25% if accommodation of a reasonable standard is provided.

47. Conclusion
It is a process to improve conditions for vulnerable workers.
Aspects of this process include:
Establishing the appropriate regulatory environment
Improving skills
Improved enforcement
Poverty alleviation and social development strategies of government as a whole.
We are on course.